Scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research have created fear by declaring that another pandemic is on the way after they revived more 24 “zombie viruses” which includes one that has been trapped in ice for more than 48,500 years according to a report published by bioRxiv.
The samples were collected from permafrost in Siberia region of Russia.
“The situation would be much more disastrous in the case of plant, animal, or human diseases caused by the revival of an ancient unknown virus,” according to the study report. The paper has yet to be peer reviewed.
The new research was led by Jean-Marie Alempic who is a microbiologist. The global warming is caused by large amount of permafrost which is a ground that is permanently frozen.
This has the effect of “releasing organic matter frozen for up to one million years.
Scientists who found these zombie viruses remain infectious despite being inactive for hundreds of years.
“It is thus likely that ancient permafrost will release these unknown viruses upon thawing. How long these viruses could remain infectious once exposed to outdoor conditions, and how likely they will be to encounter and infect a suitable host in the interval, is yet impossible to estimate.”
“But the risk is bound to increase in the context of global warming when permafrost thawing will keep accelerating, and more people will be populating the Arctic in the wake of industrial ventures,” they added.
Many people took to Twitter to express their fear about the new Zombie viruses.
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